Chapter 5 -- Lighten Up, Francis
Saturday February 4
Cassidy and I met J.D. first thing because I had a busy day planned. J.D. had us meet her at the park near my house.
"Morning. What are we learning today?" I asked.
"In the movie, you'll need to act stealthily when breaking into different places. Chubby wants you to look as natural as possible when you're doing it. The first thing I need to teach you is how to walk quietly," J.D. shared.
I perked up.
"Finally! Fritz has been doing that ninja routine where he sneaks up on me. It might be time for payback," I said, rubbing my hands together.
"I'm glad you're enthusiastic."
When I glanced over at Cassidy, her expression told me my plan to sneak up on Fritz had zero chance of success. I loved a challenge.
We hiked to a wooded area with a lot of leaves and twigs on the ground to learn our craft. J.D. had both Cassidy and me try to walk quietly, but we failed miserably. I didn't see any way we could cover that ground without being heard. When you stepped on a dried leaf, it crackled.
"Most people, when they walk, don't stride with their feet exactly straight," J.D. explained. Then she demonstrated, first with an exaggerated toe-out style, and then with toes pointed in as she walked.
The point was that because you weren't walking with your feet straight forward, there tended to be a slight twisting motion, which caused noise. J.D. brought to our attention that if we went home, got an old pair of shoes out, and looked at the soles, we'd see they didn't wear evenly.
"In martial arts, they teach you to use the toe-first method. Imagine putting your foot forward and slipping your toe under a rug," she said, then demonstrated.
When I tried, I almost fell, losing my balance.
"Bend your knees and crouch down slightly to maintain your center of gravity," Cassidy suggested.
I should have known that. When I tried it again, it was much quieter.
"I prefer what's called 'fox walking.' Native American lore talks about how they can move through a forest quietly. They studied animals and mimicked their movements. A stalking fox takes slow, careful, exact steps. When a fox runs, it makes precisely the same motion.
"A fox's feet touch the ground in a straight line. Let me use a football field as an example to visualize. Imagine walking on a sideline. You have to keep your feet straight so you don't step off the white line," she explained.
She took her shoe off to show us how a foot should touch the ground.
"When you stride, the lead foot contacts the ground with the front outside of the foot. Your foot will then naturally roll across the ball of your foot towards the big toe. Then your heel will come down to stabilize you and give you a good base to take the next step," J.D. said as she demonstrated with the shoe.
Cassidy and I practiced sneaking around. Cassidy was a natural. I contended that it was because she weighed a hundred pounds less than I did, so she had an unfair advantage.
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We arrived home to find the core group assembled that had kicked off the culture change at Lincoln High. Two people I wasn't sure would make it were also there, Tom and Tracy Dole. Tom now spent most of his time in Chicago, working at Dixon and Dixon. Tracy had graduated and was now taking classes at State. It showed me the level of commitment they had, that they would come back to help in this way. I hoped to be as dedicated once I went off to college.
Besides my dad, Coach Hope, and Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, we were also joined by Tim, Wolf, and their dads. When I arrived, Dad got us started.
"When we first got together, Coach Hope had just taken the job as head coach. David had gone to Wesleyan and toured their field house and wanted to do something similar here. His goal was that Lincoln High would become the best sports program in the state. At the time, we brainstormed ways to make the school something special, not just athletically. From that came what we have now.
"I talked to David, and he wanted to touch base and make sure we're still on the right path now that his senior year is almost over. He also has some ideas on how to continue our success," Dad said.
It was my turn.
"Tim, Wolf, and I saw some of the best college football programs in the country on our recruiting trips. We found there was a variety of approaches to success. It showed me that there isn't any one hard and fast way to build a winning team. However, I did notice some things they all had in common, and a few I felt made some of their programs stand out."
"David's right. The good news is that we now have in place a lot of what makes a successful program," Tim assured everyone.
"Thanks to the community and the Booster Club, we have the facilities," Wolf added. "They've provided us with superior coaching and training to help us prepare. I believe that we also reduce injuries by staying in shape and doing things right. If I remember correctly, David got his shot at playing varsity freshman year because the players in front of him were hurt."
"It wasn't just sports. The study groups have raised my grades, and I know that without that, I might not have qualified to play ball at Michigan," Tim said.
"That all sounds good, and I agree we've put a sound program in place. What do you think we need to add or change, based on your travels?" Coach Hope asked.
"Two things jumped out at me," I said. "When we went to Alabama, they had a system in place that developed players at each position. They start working with the freshmen on day one to begin to replace their seniors. Just look at how they've transformed Jim Ball. He's a beast now. At Alabama, when someone's injured or graduates, there isn't a falloff in talent. They reload. I contend it's the system they have that creates the players that replace the starters."
"That's easy for them to do. They won't have a falloff of talent like we will when you... uh... I mean... the three of you graduate," Mr. Sullivan said.
"Nice save," Dad quipped.
"I hear you, and that worries me too," I admitted. "Then I looked at Alabama. They had standouts graduate, and it didn't seem to hurt them. Yes, there was a drop-off in talent at some positions, but the system they have creates the next quarterback... or linebacker... or tight end," I said as I pointed at Tim and Wolf in turn.
"We don't have the staff that Alabama does," Coach Hope pointed out.
"Let me come back to that," I said to acknowledge that he was right.
I turned to Wolf and Tim.
"What impressed you about Clemson?" I asked.
"The whole place was football-crazy," Tim said. "Not that other schools didn't have passionate fan bases; they just took it to another level. They talked in terms of the players being their guys."
"Their culture was different, as well," Wolf said. "It was like you were part of a family. Don't get me wrong, it felt like you were part of something at other schools, too. But at Clemson, you felt like you mattered. It didn't feel like if you got beat out or hurt, that they would plug in the next guy and forget about you. You might not be starting, but they had your best interests in mind."
"You obviously have some ideas. What are they?" Coach Hope asked.
"Over the last few years, I've made some mistakes. Some have just taken me longer to recognize than others. I look back and play the 'what if?' game. What if I had not focused so much on my preparation and had instead helped others more? What if I'd shared the leadership role with some of the younger guys? Would we have almost lost the Lakeview game last year when I lost focus? Or would others have stepped up?" I asked.
"But you had an all-team meeting and made everyone responsible for their success," Tim said to defend me.
"I still remind myself what you shared with us in that quote: 'If it is to be, it is up to me,'" Wolf said. "I'm sure when I look back at my high school days and think about what made a difference, that would be on the list. I remind myself of that whenever I can't decide what to do about something. It helps me take charge and move forward.
I nodded to my friends and looked them in the eyes. While I was happy to hear I'd made a difference, I wondered if others had learned from my example.
"What if you both had worked more with the younger guys? Would we have freshmen or sophomores ready to move up to varsity? Think in terms of Alabama. Would sharing what you've learned over the last four years have helped to jump-start the younger players?" I asked.
"Isn't that my problem?" Coach Hope asked.
"Didn't you just say that you were understaffed?" Mr. Tams asked.
"What David is suggesting is something similar to what we had at my fraternity in college: big and little brothers. My big brother helped me get acclimated to not only the fraternity but to college life as a whole. If it hadn't been for him, I probably wouldn't have a liver now, and I would surely have flunked out," Dad shared.
I mentally marked that down for someday when Dad commented on my drinking.
"I'm not sure what we call it," I admitted. "I owe my success to mentors. Not just sports, either. Most everything I've done, I've sought out an expert and asked them to guide me. Some have been formal, like when I hired Bo Harrington. Others have been more informal. I asked one of the actors in LA to help me understand the Japanese culture so I could do a better job with my performance."
"So, you're suggesting that older guys act as big brothers for younger teammates?" Tracy asked.
"I want it to be more than just sports-related, and I want it for more than just the football team. Some of the seniors took the time to teach me stuff my freshman year that I had no clue about. I was lucky to have my actual big brother. Not all kids have the benefit of an older brother who would tolerate their freshman sibling, let alone hold their hand and help them grow up. With that in mind, I was hoping we would build more of a family-like atmosphere," I said.
"I want you to be careful when we define anything as a 'family' type of dynamic," Coach Hope said. "When I was in the military, we were taught different leadership styles. A family-style approach encourages personal relationships, a sense of community, and a feeling of security. However, it may also discourage competition, lower expectations, or lead to struggles with accountability, simply because we don't hold families as accountable as we sometimes should. I'm sure we can all think of someone in our family who, if they weren't a part of it, we would vote out because they don't carry their weight."
"How is Brad, by the way?" I asked.
I'd forgotten that Cassidy was sitting quietly in the back of the room until she dissolved in laughter. Coach gave us both a look that promised pain later.
"Coach is right," Dad said to get us back on track. "There has to be some accountability on all sides, or this won't work. I think what David was getting at was that it must be about more than just football or baseball. Some of my best memories were hanging out with my big brother from my fraternity. It reminds me of when we went to Oklahoma, and our guide talked about how the teammates hung out in the locker room."
"Why would you want to hang out in a locker room?" Tom Dole asked.
